Thai Securities Regulator Fines Four in SIX Network Pump Scheme

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has announced civil penalty enforcement action against four defendants charged with artificially inflating trading volume of SIX Network tokens, resulting in combined civil penalties of 6,579,595.40 baht. Sanctions include trading bans on digital asset exchanges and prohibitions on serving as directors or executives of digital token issuers or digital asset businesses. The SEC received information from Bitkub, a digital asset trading center, on January 4, 2019, and subsequent investigation revealed that between 2017 and 2021, four defendants—SIX Network Thailand Company Limited (acting under the direction of executive Wachara Amwatthana) and employees Voraprot Lan and Phasuwin Keawlampoon—coordinated buy and sell orders knowing they were placing matching or near-identical orders in the same quantity, price, and timeframe on the Bitkub trading board. The conduct violated prohibitions against sending orders or trading digital assets in a manner that misleads the public regarding trading volume under Section 46(1) read with Section 48(2) and (3) of the Digital Asset Business Decree 2018, read with Section 83 of the Criminal Code. Wachara is also liable under Section 94 as the directing officer. The Civil Penalty Committee imposed the following sanctions: SIX Network Thailand Company Limited must pay 1,644,898.85 baht in fines and SEC investigation costs, and is prohibited from trading digital assets for six months. Wachara Amwatthana, Voraprot Lan, and Phasuwin Keawlampoon must each pay 1,644,898.85 baht in fines and costs, are prohibited from trading digital assets for six months each, and are barred from serving as directors or executives of digital token issuers or digital asset businesses for 12 months each. Wachara is also jointly liable for penalties imposed on the company as a co-debtor.